Water Polo: Knights and Maidens push past Pennridge

PERKASIE — After falling to Pennridge 11-8 earlier in the season, the North Penn boys water polo team held a powerful Ram offense to just a single goal Tuesday evening in the rematch, as the young Knights continue to improve dramatically as the playoffs approach.

“This is a different North Penn team than we faced before,” Rams coach Ken Vincent said. “They really have the heart, but also the skill, and they brought the experience to this game. This is a team that is going to be very significant at the Eastern Conference Championships, and we are going to have to get our game together to be competitive with them. They’re fantastic.”

North Penn’s 5-1 win completed a sweep of the doubleheader at Pennridge, as the Maidens won the opener, 10-4, over the Rams.

The Knights shut out the Rams in the second half of their contest and built steadily upon an early 2-0 lead. Goals by Thanas Kountroubis, Brett Else, Liam Kelly and a pair by Justin Veverka cemented North Penn’s seventh win in nine games.

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Shane Hennessey’s four steals helped frustrate Pennridge on the offensive end and keep the Knights (9-11) in control.

“We were trying to do this from Day One,” Knights coach Jason Grubb said of the defensive effort. “Our defense was a little weak at the beginning of the year — gave up a lot of easy goals to teams. We’re starting to clean everything up.”

The Rams (9-4) got some solid play in net from Jake Gordon and Kevin McDonald, and a team-high four steals from Mike Lawson. Jon Spehar scored the lone Ram goal in the second quarter.

“Our guys played fantastic defense but the offense was a bit lacking today,” Vincent said.

The Maidens (18-2) had their offense going earlier in the evening, led by Aspen Trautz and Brittney Patterson, who scored three goals each.

North Penn built a 7-2 lead by the second quarter and stayed in control.

“At this point in the season, we’re looking to put some things together before we head to Easterns,” said assistant coach Katie Plewinski, who took over the coaching duties Tuesday for Bill Bartle, who was at former NP coach Rick Carroll’s induction into the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame. “Overall, it’s looking pretty good.”

Chelsea Weiss led Pennridge (9-6) with a pair of goals.

“We have a lot of girls who are jelling together and are learning,” Rams coach Ryan Griffiths said. “We’re relatively young in our skill set. The more they practice and the more they go after things, they’ll be able to pick up that game speed.”